The inquiry cycle
Data-driven decision making and continuous school improvement go hand-in-hand and are reinforcing practices. Both are characteristics of accountability-minded schools, with people committed to the learning that takes place in their building. As part of the process they use, they define the "ideal" and use data to reveal the "actual." The actual is then used to inform and reflect upon the practices, adjust actions, and help make future decisions. Although numerous inquiry cycles, or cycles of inquiry, do exist, the following six activities roughly define the process of a nonlinear inquiry cycle, with data as a key component. Although listed in numerical order, the inquiry process is not over at the end and it is always starting again.
1. Establish desired outcomes for which stateholders accept responsibility. Here all participants (and sometimes students) discuss and define criteria for what constitute satisfactory outcomes. Questions during this activity may include: What do we want our students to know and be able to do? What standards will be used to judge success?
2. Define the questions. What questions do we have about our learning environment? Examples include: What do we want to know about our students? Why is this group of students performing better than others? Are these reading modules improving comprehension?
3. Collect and organize data. This process involves gathering evidence needed to answer the questions asked. Much of the data already exists in various forms, including exams, essays, observations, and standardized test scores. Sometimes it is just a matter of locating and using the existing data. Other times, teachers may decide that new data must be generated to answer the questions. Some questions to ask during this phase: What kinds of evidence/data suit our needs? Where can we find the data? Can this data be disaggregated into groups? Will we be able to manage and interpret this data or will it require additional expertise or software to assist with the analysis?
4. Make meaning of the data. Raw data is rarely ever useful. Data collected must be put into context and understood as a whole before any conclusions can be made. Patterns, relationships, unexpected outcomes, are all possibilities once a close reading of the data is conducted. The most important component to this phase is making sure the right questions are being asked.
5. Take action. After data has been collected, organized, and interpreted, the challenge for a school is to take action to improve student learning based on what the has data revealed. Schools may do everything from changing teaching methods, curriculum, schedules, classroom layouts, to the extremes of creating new programs or reorganizing the entire school focus. But without taking action, the inquiry cycle is pointless.
6. Evaluate and assess actions. At this point, the cycle essentially begins again. The new actions, that came about from the previous phase, need to be analyzed to determine if the actions and changes have had an effect on student learning. Thus, outcomes need to be determined, questions identified, data collected, etc.